Tag Archives: Android

After what seems like ages, Skype has finally made to Android devices running Android 2.1 and above. To download Skype you will have to visit skype.com/m from your mobile phone or hit the Android market. The app brings the ability to make Skype calls via WIFI or 3G, but if you are in the US your calls will be restricted to WIFI.

In addition to calling phones, you can make Skype-to-Skype calls and send and receive IMs, one-to-one or with a group. The app has been tested on HTC and Motorola devices with Android OS 2.1 and above and should work on most other devices. Skype notes some problems with the Samsung Galaxy S, and they’re looking to address these in the future.

On a side note, Google has brought paid applications to the Android Market in a number of countries including India. The prices are displayed in INR and this opens up a whole new section of quality applications for you to browse through. Let us know what you think on the payment process and if you have the chance to compare it to purchases on the Ovi Store.

Well, the much anticipated, much hyped Google phone turned out into a completely new operating system called Android that is supposed to be open and free. Meaning thereby that manufacturers could use it for developing their smartphones without having to pay for or license an OS such as Symbian or WinMo. The idea behind the entire scheme of things is deriving advertising based revenue and thus reducing the cost of the phone. However would this business model really make a difference? Would it actually revolutionarise the way we use phones? Would it be spectacular? The more I think about it, the less convinced I am.

The question on my mind is, how much of an effect will this have on pricing. The absolute maximum amount a manufacturer pays a vendor such as Symbian or Microsoft for their software is not more than 5$-20$ a handset. Now even if Google is not charging this money for the OS, the largest price drop in the cost of a smartphone would be in the same region. Meaning thereby there would not be a substantial price drop.

For a high end smartphone, this is not a difference at all and in my opinion not sufficient for pulling a customer from a company such as Nokia; which is not a part of the Open Handset Alliance. The reliability of a business and the trust a consumer places in a brand would not be overcome so easily. In the high end segment there is enough profit margin, the Nokia N95 on launch was priced somewhere around 900$ now it retails for a mere 600$, all this within 6-7 months of its release. A 300$ dip in profit on each phone and Nokia is still making money on the device. In face of competition the phone could be a little more competitively placed and Nokia and S60 would prove tough to beat.

The Google Mobile Phone OS ‘Android‘ has just gone official. Android, is named after the start-up company that Google bought in 2004 for its mobile software. Google has also made it clear that it won’t be making or marketing any phones. It is more significant and ambitious than a single phone. In fact, through the joint efforts of the members of the Open Handset Alliance, Google hopes to make Android the foundation for many new phones and create an entirely new mobile experience for users, with new applications and new capabilities. The entire theme for the Platform is ‘Innovation’.

Outlining Innovation:

Android will deliver a complete set of software for mobile devices: an operating system, middleware and key mobile applications and because Android will cost nothing, it could undercut rivals who charge handset makers to install their operating systems. It also promises to make smart phones less expensive since manufacturers won’t have to pay for software.

Well this has nothing to do with Symbian directly but is far too important to miss. According to a post over at C|Net google is going to announce a new platform, a new mobile operating system that runs on Linux and is called Android! Such an announcement has been expected for long and now we have just one more day to go. On Monday Google is expected to reveal details on the mythical Gphone.

Google is calling the venture an “Open Handset Alliance” and it includes partners like KDDI and NTT DoCoMo and 30 others including Qualcomm, Broadcom, HTC, Intel, Samsung, Motorola, Sprint, and Texas Instruments.. The platform will supposedly be open source falling under the Apache License, Version 2.0. The flavor of Linux that Android will be built on top of looks to be that from Wind River.